


your gaze, lover

by Brobellez



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: But it's pretty close, Crushes, Cute gay feelings, Fanfic Playlists, Fluff, Ignis has too many feelings, M/M, Pre-Canon, Prompto Argentum is a Ray of Sunshine, Prompto and Ignis vibing in the Regalia, Prompto definitely makes fanfic playlists I'm running away with this idea, Somewhat, and Ignis is Not Immune, it's not love yet Ignis isn't stupid, playlists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:40:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23688583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brobellez/pseuds/Brobellez
Summary: On days when Noctis can’t go to school because of one princely responsibility or another, he would ask Ignis to make the drive to their school, pick Prompto up, and drive him to (more often than not) wherever Noctis is. Prompto would wait for Noctis in his rooms or, sometimes, in the gardens where he could take pictures of the scenery and chat with the groundskeepers.Today, however, Ignis tells Prompto that he will be bringing Prompto back to his own house.
Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 8
Kudos: 86





	your gaze, lover

**Author's Note:**

> Rating is General but there F-word is used like once so uh be warned ? idk i got paranoid aaaa

On days when Noctis can’t go to school because of one princely responsibility or another, he would ask Ignis to make the drive to their school, pick Prompto up, and drive him to (more often than not) wherever Noctis is. Prompto would wait for Noctis in his rooms or, sometimes, in the gardens where he could take pictures of the scenery and chat with the groundskeepers.

Prompto would always tell Ignis that picking him up was completely unnecessary, that the Citadel was a bus and a subway ride away. And Ignis would always tell Prompto, gently but firmly, to just get in the car since he was already there to pick him up anyway.

Today, however, Ignis tells Prompto that he will be bringing Prompto back to his own house. There’s a big meeting at the Citadel today with important people coming from all over. This is all that Ignis tells Prompto who, at this point, has learned not to ask for anything more than that. 

Prompto only nods. Shoots out a bright “gotcha, totally understood, sir,” and waits for Ignis’s sigh before looking out the window to watch the city pass them by.

Ignis turns on the radio. Flips to a station playing symphonies and turns it up to an ambient volume.

“Ooooh! Is this the kind of music you listen to, Ignis, sir?”

“Ignis is fine, Prompto,” Ignis says. “And yes. When I have time to myself, this is the kind of music I gravitate to.”

Gladiolus still gets a kick out of Prompto calling both of them “sir,” even after more than a year of them knowing each other. The prince is never without his Shield and retainer. And as the prince chose, again and again, every day, to never be without Prompto, Ignis and Gladiolus had to learn how to accommodate Prompto too. No matter how obnoxious he and the prince could get.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. Ignis.” Prompto rubs the back of his neck. “That’s cool, though! Do you know what’s playing now? It sounds familiar.”

Ignis, having expected the conversation to end on “That’s so cool!”, blinks. He looks over to the passenger seat and—yes, Prompto is staring at him, smiling and expectant. 

_His eyes are too blue,_ Ignis thinks. 

They stop at a red light. Ignis glances at the radio and makes a conscious effort to pick out the instruments and the melody instead of letting them wash over him. He wasn’t lying when he told Prompto that this was the kind of music he gravitated towards, but he does this because this is the kind of music that helps him focus.

There will always be too many plans with too many steps and too many contingency plans stacked on top of one another. Such is the life Ignis was born into. And in a life that relies on him to be ready for the worst, that relies on him to revolve his life around the safety and happiness of a teenage prince of a monarchy with enemies encroaching from all sides, his focus must never waver. Each step he takes must always be sure. _Walk tall._

A violin punctures the silence, mournful and wanting. More strings, plucked this time. From a lute, maybe? They punctuate the melody at odd intervals like skipping stones.

“I believe it is from a play.” Ignis nods to himself. The light turns green. Ignis makes the turn.

“A play?” Prompto… scrunches his nose. Ignis does _not_ find this cute. Not at all.

“Well, a play that was then adapted into a ballet that required this sort of arrangement. You might have discussed it in your literature classes. It’s called _The Pilgrim and the Star._ ” 

Prompto makes a face; Ignis notices that he has frown lines. “I don’t think I remember us talking about that in class, sorry.”

“No need to apologize.”

“Is that…?” Prompto’s frown lines get deeper. Ignis feels the odd urge to smooth a hand over them. _Don’t frown so much. You’ll get wrinkles before you’re thirty._

Ignis’s fingers twitch on the steering wheel. He takes a deep calming breath.

“The one with the tree on the mountain!” Prompto has an _aha!_ moment. Ignis smiles a small smile. 

“Yes.”

“The tallest tree in the world!”

Ignis doesn’t know where Prompto’s ebullience comes from, and he definitely will not be the person to tell Prompto to manage his tone. So instead, he continues: “If I recall correctly, a pilgrim fell in love with the star that guided him out of a ravine.”

“I thought it was a loveless marriage?” Prompto asks. He stretches in his seat. 

“The ravine is a metaphor.”

“I never got that.”

“Neither did I.”

This startles a laugh out of Prompto. Ignis smiles. 

“Why a tree again? Why didn’t he just build a tower? At least, he would’ve had control over how long it would take until he reached her, right?”

The pilgrim in the story had loved the star so much that he swore he would find a way to climb the heavens and kiss her hand. He climbed the highest mountain in the world, but—

“When he finally reached the top, he had grown too old to build anything,” Ignis says. Prompto looks like he’s latching on to every word. “So when he felt his time to die had come, he buried himself in the ground up to his neck, kissed the seed of an a’mitlu tree, and tucked it into the soil above his body. He wanted to use his body to nourish the tree so that it would grow tall and strong, tall enough for its canopy to reach the heavens and kiss his beloved as he promised.”

Prompto is still staring at Ignis, but his gaze has become heavy and sad. They’re almost at Prompto’s building now. Ignis doesn’t want their time to end this way.

“That’s so sad,” Prompto says.

Ignis nods. A completely new song has replaced the piece. Ignis lowers the volume. “The piece we were listening to was called _A Time for Us_.”

“When does it play?” Prompto asks though Ignis feels like Prompto already knows the answer.

“Long after he has died.” They pull up in front of Prompto’s building. “The tree has already broken through the soil. Even in death, he reaches.”

Prompto’s eyes look suspiciously shiny, but he only clears his throat and says: “Wow.”

“I listen to these songs because they help me focus.” Ignis finds himself saying. “But I still keep up with what’s… trendy.”

Prompto smiles a small smile. “It’s funny when you say that with your accent.”

Ignis rolls his eyes. “Yes, I’m aware. But all in all, I’d like to think that my taste is… versatile.”

Prompto blinks. Ignis thinks he sees the tips of Prompto’s ears turn red, but the grin on Prompto’s face captures his attention again. 

“That’s cool! I’ll see if I can find the whole thing online.” He looks to the entrance to his building behind Ignis, and his eyes regain their heaviness. But Ignis blinks and it’s gone and Prompto is grinning at him again. “Thanks so much for the ride today, Ignis!”

Ignis inclines his head. “I’ll be seeing you, Prompto.”

Prompto shoots him finger guns and gets out of the car. The buildings block out the sunlight. Even in the dreary colors of his school uniform, Prompto looks so bright. 

Ignis waits until he’s closed the door to his building behind him before pulling out of the curb and back to the Citadel. He tries to lose himself in the orchestra station again. He ends up switching stations not long after.

* * *

Noctis only manages to return to school the following week, as even his weekend was taken up by the visiting dignitaries from Altissia. Ignis doesn’t find himself alone with Prompto again for a time. 

He hasn’t tuned in to the classical station since then. He finds that his thoughts grow louder at the sound of an orchestra: blue eyes, startled laughter, and afternoon sunlight setting blond hair aglow. 

Ignis downloads a music streaming app on his phone and downloads playlists filled with white noise. It’s not as effective or as stimulating as classical music, but it does the job well enough. 

For a moment, Ignis thinks of blaming Prompto for his sudden aversion to classical music. But then he remembers the dangerous shine in Prompto’s eyes. That’s so sad. 

Something squeezes in Ignis’s chest, and he discards the thought immediately.

A month passes. And then for a whole week, Noctis disappears from school and vanishes into the CItadel. When Ignis picks Prompto up from school, he tells him that it’s for additional combat training. The prince’s magic is growing stronger and, as such, his training regimen must adapt.

“But then shouldn’t you be there, too?” Prompto asks. 

“I am. But getting you home safe is an obligation that Noctis will not abandon.”

Prompto falls quiet in the passenger seat. “He doesn’t have to do this all the time. I can take care of myself.”

 _Ah,_ Ignis cringes, though his face betrays nothing. When they stop in front of a light, Ignis turns his attention to Prompto.

“My apologies,” Ignis says. Prompto, who had been looking out the window, turns to look at Ignis in surprise. He meets Ignis’s gaze, then lowers it to his lap. Ignis can see Prompto’s frown lines. Ignis’s fingers twitch on the wheel. 

“I may have given off the wrong impression in the way I articulated the prince’s intentions. I only wanted to say that even when he isn’t here, he is always looking out for your well-being.” He will always want you to be happy, as do I. But Ignis doesn’t say this as he knows that this might never be his place to say.

Prompto looks up at him. His eyes really are too blue, Ignis thinks. He smiles a small smile under Prompto’s gaze, which softens. 

“Like a star.”

Ignis blinks. “Pardon?”

Prompto blushes. The way it dusts across his cheeks is interesting. Ignis blinks. “I mean like the star from the play. The Pilgrim and the Star.”

Ignis nods. The light turns green.

“Oh, I keep forgetting to tell you!” Prompto exclaims. Ignis cocks his head. “I figured out why that piece sounded so familiar: a song in one of my go-to playlists has the same melody.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah! It’s by this Lestallian singer, I don’t know if you know her? She goes by Elaine and her songs are just so—!” Here, Prompto launches into wild hand gesticulations as he tries to find words. Ignis smothers a chuckle. Why is it so hard to maintain a modicum of professionalism when it comes to this ball of sunshine—?

_Ah._

_AH._

Ignis’s eyes widen at his self-realization, and then he sucks in a sharp breath but it’s at the same time that Prompto finally exclaims: “Her songs sound like they should be in a movie!”

Ignis looks over at Prompto, at the afternoon sunlight setting his hair aglow.

“Cinematic,” he breathes.

“Yeah!” Prompto beams. Distantly, Ignis thinks himself fucked.

“What playlist did you find her song in?” Ignis asks.

“Oh, ah—haha, it’s—funny that you should ask.” Prompto clears his throat. Ignis raises an eyebrow, still reluctantly and fondly amused at seeing another one of Prompto’s eccentricities.

“And why is that?”

“It’s in an—” Here, Prompto cuts himself off with a deep, sharp inhale as if psyching himself up. Then: “It’s a fanfic playlist.”

“A what?”

Prompto’s ears redden in a blush. Ignis makes a valiant effort to return his eyes to the road and his ears to Prompto’s reply. “Someone online wrote a fanfic based on this movie I really liked and I loved the fic so much that I had to make this. Like— _Ignis_! It gave me too many feelings that I wasn’t expecting and it was over a hundred thousand words plus words long and I still finished it in one night because—!”

Ignis could hear just how much Prompto wanted to talk about fanfic and this playlist. Ignis knows what a fanfic is—at the very least, he knows the dictionary definition of it. And it doesn’t surprise him that Prompto is the type of person to grow emotionally attached to things like movies and video games. So what surprises him then is the audible snap of Prompto’s mouth closing. 

Prompto settles back in his seat. Ignis doesn’t know what happened.

“What is it?”

“Nothing! I just got too excited again. I think I was distracting you.”

 _I’ve grown to not mind that at all._ Ignis thinks. What he says is: “Not at all. Please continue. I would love to hear more about the movie and this fanfic you love so much.”

Prompto’s too-blue eyes and brilliant smile should be a movie on its own. At least, this is what Ignis thinks as Prompto continues gushing about the movie, a star-crossed romance set in a city much like Insomnia, only without gods and magic and the current state of their technology. 

Ignis remembers watching this movie some time ago with a member of the royal staff that he had been seeing at the time. He doesn’t interrupt Prompto to mention this.

Prompto gushes about the visuals and the cinematography, the swooping architecture, the way lights reflected off the jewels in the women’s dresses and how the sleek, dark lines of the men’s suits complimented them beautifully. _A completely different world._

But the fanfic that Prompto fell in love with surprises Ignis. While it does follow the events of the movie, down to the tragic death of the two lovers, the fanfic is told through Tobias, the male lover’s chauffeur and best friend. The fanfic takes what few scenes he had on the screen and wove a story of one-sided devotion and longing. 

“And Ignis, there was this one line in the fic! Wait, let me just—” Prompto takes out his phone and quickly scrolls through it. “It was so beautiful and I just knew that it was what the fanfic was _all. about._ ” He claps out the last two words.

Ignis catches the smile he’s wearing in the rearview mirror. He schools his face and looks back to the road.

“Here! This part of the fic was when Tobias, the protag’s best friend, finally realized that he was catching feelings for his BFF and the author just _went_ for it.” Prompto takes a deep breath and reads: _“We crossed the bridge over Lover’s Drop just as the midnight fireworks lit up the sky, and I realized that your gaze ignited a similar light show in my chest every time I beheld you.”_

Ignis feels his heart begin to race. He feels as though he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t be. He refuses to analyze that feeling now, choosing instead to focus on Prompto’s squealing. 

“Ignis, I just _can’t._ ”

“Understandable. The writer was very poetic.”

“I know! I got the playlist title from that line. I had to. I could show it to you now—” Prompto cuts himself off again. Ignis sees him blink, looking up at the familiar building looming behind the window behind the driver’s seat. “Oh. Or not.”

They’ve been idling outside of Prompto’s building for almost fifteen minutes now. Ignis hasn’t been keeping track, but he’d noted when they arrived and had quickly calculated how much time had passed before Prompto noticed.

“Oh, geez. I’m so sorry, Ignis. How long have we been here?”

The choice of whether or not to lie is an easy one to make. “Not long. I was happy to hear you talk. It’s obvious that you have a lot of love for this story.”

Prompto nods. Ignis can see Prompto dialing himself down again. He says: “I will be picking you up from school for the rest of the week. Hopefully, that will be enough time for us to go through the playlist you made.”h

Prompto blinks. Gapes up at Ignis. 

Ignis’s thought processes lurch to a stop, then resumes with a barrage of rapid-fire facts and questions: _You just assumed that he would want to share his playlist with you. Would he want to share it with you? Would he even want to share it with you? You assume that he would want to keep talking to you like this. Would he want to keep talking to you like this?_

Ignis, his brain short-circuiting, has managed to keep his breathing calm, his gaze cool. Prompto flushes, and something dangerously like hope sparks in Ignis’s chest.

“Yeah, I’d love that.” Prompto’s reply is quiet. Ignis doesn’t quite let out a sigh of relief, but it’s close.

“I will see you tomorrow, then.” Ignis smiles a small smile. 

Prompto salutes. Opens the car door. But just before he closes it, he leans back in and says: “It’s called _Your Gaze, Lover._ ”

Ignis feels his breath catch. He clears his throat. “Pardon?”

Prompto shrugs. “In case you wanted to listen to it on your own. That's the title.”

“Nonsense. I’ll see you tomorrow, Prompto. You can introduce me to it then.”

Prompto’s eyes glow in the afternoon light.

* * *

“The song that sounds like the piece from the ballet is in the middle, actually,” Prompto says this as he plugs in the cord to his phone. “The whole thing is like an hour and a half long, but I’m still adding and removing stuff every other week when I find songs that just fit the vibe more, y’know?”

Ignis doesn’t know, but he says: “I can imagine.”

“Yeah! So when I was making this, I wanted to immediately put myself where Tobias was in the fanfic: he was already old and... not really bitter, but he looked at the love he had for his friend and was thinking: ‘Damn, I really would’ve done anything for that man. But I’m old now and I know that he probably wouldn’t have done the same for me. And that makes me sad.’ So immediately, it’s like—”

Prompto rattles on until the first notes of the first song come on: immediately, it’s a wall of brass and drums. Ignis sees Prompto bite his lip in a smile and start bopping his head to the steady drumbeat. 

Ignis knows that if such a song would come on the radio, he normally wouldn’t think twice about switching it to something smoother, something that isn’t as glaring as this song’s production. But he listens to Prompto singing along to the lyrics as they pull out of the school’s parking lot, and he feels only contentment.

The song that sounded like _A Time for Us_ came in as the fourth song, with the singer’s voice taking on the melody of the violins. Ignis finds it beautiful, and he’s surprised that Prompto’s taste in music included songs like this. They stop at a red light and he takes the time to look over at Prompto who, by the end of the first song, had leaned back in his seat and had kept his fidgeting to a miraculous minimum.

His eyes are closed. He’s humming under his breath and rubbing the handle of his briefcase gently, in time with the dips and curls of the woman’s singing. Ignis shouldn’t find himself charmed so much by this, but he is and he can’t help but be somewhat annoyed with himself.

A car honks behind Ignis. The light had turned green.

When they finally reach Prompto’s building, they’re halfway through the playlist and Ignis has accepted that he likes the playlist. Ignis has also accepted that he would only want to finish the rest of the songs on this playlist with Prompto, listening to Prompto hum along and sway in his seat and feel. 

Ignis has never met anyone who expresses their feelings as Prompto does: with his eyes and the varying degrees in his smile. Ignis has never looked at anyone who looks as cinematic as Prompto does: with the sunlight in his hair and the sky in his eyes and hands that don’t seem to stop moving, as if they were capable of stringing melodies out of thin air.

Ignis stops the car in front of Prompto’s building just as a song finishes. Prompto opens his eyes.

“We’re here again.” Ignis’s voice doesn’t tremble, and he’s glad for that. He’s only admitted to himself that he likes Prompto. There’s nothing necessarily earth-shattering about that. Not at all.

“Damn, and we’re only halfway through.” Prompto yawns. Then, he seems to remember himself and covers his mouth with a fist. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. You seemed relaxed.”

“I was. Very. It feels nice being able to share this.”

“I’m honored. Truly.” _You have no idea._

Prompto looks at him then properly then, faces his body to Ignis’s seat. There’s a furrow in his brow. “Ignis? Is something wrong?”

Ignis blinks. He feels how dry his throat is all of a sudden. He clears it. “Nothing at all. Why do you ask?”

“Nothing. It’s just… you’re looking at me weird.” Prompto mumbles the last part out, and Ignis knows he isn’t imagining the flush in Prompto’s ears. His heart softens.

“I just realized how much I would love to listen to this playlist.”

Prompto brightens up. “Really? Did you like it that much? I can send you the link right now before I go. I think I should actually, in case I forget—”

Ignis holds up a hand. Prompto snaps his mouth shut. “Prompto, my apologies. I wasn’t finished.”

“Oh?” Prompto tilts his head in question. Ignis doesn’t fight the smile twitching on his lips this time.

“I would very much love to continue listening to this playlist, but only if you’re with me.”

What feels like eternities elapse by the time Ignis’s words sink in, and the blush that lights up Prompto’s face is the brightest that Ignis has seen by far.

“I’d like that too.”

Ignis feels like he can breathe again. “Yes. Excellent. Lovely.”

Prompto’s eyes widen: “You’re blushing!”

Ignis only just resists the urge to touch his own cheek. “I can feel it. I’m… not used to this feeling.”

Prompto looks awestruck. “Wow. _Yes._ I’d like to hang out with you more too.”

Ignis feels his smile curling up into a grin, and it's never felt so _easy_ before. “Wonderful. Excellent. Yes.”

Prompto laughs. Ignis can feel the tips of his ears heating up. He’s _mortified._

Prompto disconnects his phone. Packs it away in his pocket. Ignis watches his hands. Prompto meets his gaze, flushes, and looks away. 

Ignis can’t stop looking at him, now that he knows that he’s allowed to.

He comes back to himself when Prompto touches his hand, which held the emergency brake in a death grip. He makes a conscious effort to relax.

“I have to go.” Prompto looks as though he’s trying to meet Ignis’s gaze but falling short, always diverting his attention to somewhere above his head. Ignis stares at Prompto’s hand and, very slowly, takes it in his own. He squeezes it once.

“Of course,” Ignis says and _ah,_ there’s the tremor in his voice. Prompto stares at their joined hands. His gaze traces up Ignis’s arms and, finally, to his eyes.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Prompto.”

Prompto beams. He laces their fingers together and squeezes. “See you tomorrow, Ignis.”

**Author's Note:**

> hewo this is my first fanfic for this fandom even tho I've had SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THESE BOYS LITERALLY FOREVER. I haven't written anything in a long time and I only started writing again now because the stress of the pandemic and everything it's changed in my life is slowly becoming too much and I needed some way to channel all these thoughts out to something productive (other than working from home, which is a whole other struggle on its own esp. if you know upper management doesn't really care about you lol)
> 
> Anyway, i plan on actually making this whole idea of Prompto being into playlists as a whole-ass plot point that would carry on into canon, and is eventually gonna give way to a Polyship Roadtrip situation bc im hella gay for all of them being hella gay for each other
> 
> But above all else, I'm really just taking my time with this and I'm re-learning how to write and how to have fun doing it (since my job rly takes the fun out of writing ngl huhu).
> 
> Let me know what you think! Hope you're all safe and healthy and staying at home (if yall can afford to bc I know being able to do that is a privilege all on its own)
> 
> P.S. I made a legit playlist for the vibe Prompto's trying to capture aksjhasdkhjas yall can find it here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1R4ebpnE7C3DkoA7xIBf6G?si=8qXBttUZQzqiO965H3tH5g
> 
> Here's the song "A Time for Us": https://open.spotify.com/track/0za6HhjZw6LwCIDdBl92Vm?si=FgKcI5KMTt2yvrmvWljFjg ((the song it vibes with is Old Money by Lana del Rey uwu))


End file.
